15
Old School - 2003 So this is my last pure comedy on the countdown I believe and this is my favorite one that always makes me laugh. I suppose it just came out at the right time for me. When it was making it's run on tv and dvd I was basically living the college life. It sort of my generation's Animal House. Just a frat house comedy with a twist of the antagonists being 30 and out of school
So this is Todd Phillips second entry on this countdown (would be 3 if I saw the Joker before I started). As with The Hangover it propelled it's 3 stars to bigger careers. Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell all got shot into leading men in Hollywood to varying degrees, just like Cooper, Zach G and Helms. This is just quintessential Vince Vaughn. This and Wedding Crashers is Vince at his comedic best. This however was Will Ferrell's coming out party in feature films. He felt a little too good at playing Frank
His streaking scene always gets a laugh out of me
. He was in a lot of small parts in movies before this film but this really launched his film career. One of my favorite comedy performances in movies
.
Jeremy Piven is also pretty good as the d*ckhead Dean. I remember I first saw this movie in theaters my sophomore year in high school with my aau basketball team during a break between games. Anyways some of the parents took us to it and were horrified during the vulgar parts
. I don't remember really liking it after that but fell in love with it when I had a different perspective on it a few years later. Anyways I just think its a comedy classic, I'm sure it's probably not too popular around here, or maybe it is
. But it always freaking amuses me and puts me in a good mood when I see it. My favorite comedy for sure.
Director - Todd Phillips
Best Performance - Will Ferrell as Frank The Tank
Rotten Tomatoes Score - 60%
Factoid - Frank's streaking scene was shot on a city street. As Will Ferrell remembered it, one of the storefronts was a twenty-four-hour gym with Stairmasters and treadmills in the window. "I was rehearsing in a robe, and all these people are in the gym, watching me. I asked one of the Production Assistants, 'Shouldn't we tell them I'm going to be naked?' Sure enough, I dropped my robe and there were shrieks of pure horror. After the first take, nobody was at the window anymore. I took that as a sign of approval."
Stock In Countdown - Neutral